A love letter to StarCraft and StarCraft Brood War

Recently I got to play the original StarCraft and the expansion Brood War, since Blizzard released it to be downloaded for free on the week of April 20th. I should mention that I’ve never played StarCraft before, actually, I usually hate and suck at most RTS games, but there are so many things about StarCraft that made me bow before its greatness that for the first time in my life I’m actually in love for an RTS game. Let’s go through why I believe it happened, and why I believe this game is so special and unlike any other of its genre on the market.

First, yes, the graphics, cutscenes, and CGI are outdated, they look outdated, but are also nostalgic, and still work perfectly well with the whole game’s aesthetics. Black screens with green texts on it, a woman with tubes getting out of her head and let’s not forget about the insanely incredible soundtrack with distorted guitars and instruments you can actually identify. The game embodies so much of nineties culture and vision of tech and future, that I couldn’t help it but fall in love with it.

Now, one of the first things that make StarCraft stand out from other RTS games is its power of immersion. Most of the time when you’re playing an RTS game, it doesn’t feel like you’re really there, in that world, it doesn’t really feel like that world and it’s characters matter. You never get that feeling when you’re playing StarCraft because you care about everything that is going on, the characters, your strategy, the story, and the minimal details.

The second factor would be that if you stop and consider the date when the game was developed, you then can notice that the game has an extraordinary quality built in it since the beginning. This has allowed it to last decades without major changes, and very few IP’s can claim such an achievement. Blizzard’s ability to create a game that still has staying power while the second entry into the franchise is out is a testament to the game’s creative longevity.

The final factor that makes StarCraft so special is that the game excels both in the solo campaign and the multiplayer mode. You don’t feel like it’s worth it to only play one; it gives you a versatile gaming experience in either. It allows you to have fun with friends and by yourself, but it doesn’t make you feel that there’s something lacking in one part or in the other, they are both complete experiences on their on.

I honestly don’t know why no one never suggested this game to me before, I could have been obsessing about this game for so much more time. Don’t make this same mistake, I honestly encourage all of you to give it a try, even if you’re like me and never really liked any RTS you won’t regret it.